1. Technical Field
This application relates to an apparatus and method of establishing an authentic and secure relationship between two messaging systems to exchange data. More specifically this application describes an apparatus and method of establishing an authentic relationship between a wireless handheld device (“mobile device”) and a message center or host system using password-based authentication methods. The apparatus and method described herein is applicable to land-line environments as well as wireless environments.
2. Background of the Art
There are several strong password-based encryption mechanisms currently known in the computer industry. Some of these implementations include Encrypted Key Exchange (EKE), Password Derived Moduli (PDM), and Simple Password-authenticated Exponential Key Exchange (SPEKE). These mechanisms are limited in their implementations and have not addressed the need of mobile devices. Additionally these mechanisms do not address the need of implementing perfect forward secrecy, such that if a security breach does take place all previous messages exchanged remain secure. A protocol provides perfect forward secrecy if past session keys are not compromised even if the long-term keys are compromised. (See, e.g., Menezes et al., Handbook of Applied Cryptography, 1996, p. 496). Perfect forward secrecy, also known as break-backward protection, means that all previous securely exchanged messages should remain secure despite anything that happens in the future.